This is Not Your Mother's Presidency: Part 1

[bekkis]

“Where’s the speech?”

The room’s packed, staffers running by him with extra stickers and flags. Jensen tries not to tear out his hair as he watches Jared telling jokes to supporters and acting like this is just another day.

“You need to calm down.” Jared smirks, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He looks way more relaxed than he should.

Jensen swallows. “Your tie is crooked.”

Jared grins widely at him and preens, hand on the loose knot resting against his neck. “It usually is.”

He can’t stop himself and reaches up to fix Jared’s tie. Someone rushes by, bumping his arm as they pass the two of them. He spots Aldis across the room, holding a stack of papers in one hand and waving the other.

It’s time.

“I think I might throw up,” Jensen finally admits.

Jared smoothes down the lapels on Jensen’s shirt, thumb resting on his collarbone. He rests one hand over Jensen’s heart for a moment before lifting his hand to tilt Jensen’s head up.

“I gave up a very good job to do this for you,” Jared says seriously.

Jensen hits Jared’s arm and scowls. “I’m going to throw up all over your shoes.”

“Please don’t, I really can’t afford a new pair.” Jared grins and taps Jensen’s arm again. “Seriously. It’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.”

“Guys, we’ve gotta get out there now.” Aldis taps his watch impatiently.

They share one last look and Jensen nods. Jared smiles again and Jensen knows right then that they have this in the bag.

“Have I thanked you for this yet?”

“Oh, only about a hundred times,” Jared says, still grinning. “But I could stand to hear it a hundred more times. Keeps my ego nice and healthy.

“So modest,” Jensen snarks and punches Jared’s arm again. “Let’s get out there.”

The microphone echoes through the auditorium. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the next Senator from the great state…”

&&&

March 2009, Two Months After Inauguration

“What are you doing here?”

Jensen glances up from his newspaper and frowns. He checks the time on his Blackberry and looks back up at the guy standing in the doorway. His suit jacket is hanging off the back of his chair and his sleeves are rolled part way up his arm to show off his embarrassingly pale skin. Fucking D.C. winters. Jensen’s sick of the snow.

“You’re late,” Jensen says as he folds up his newspaper. There’s a single article highlighted with a circle in black pen drawn around it. “You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago. I don’t have time to sit around and wait for you to show up,” He sits back in his chair and gestures towards the two chairs across from him. He looks down at the newspaper again and turns it over, an ad for weekly subscriptions facing up.

The guy is still standing in the doorway, hands on his hips. “No, no, no. We’re not meeting with you.”

Jensen resists the urge to roll his eyes and crosses his arms against his chest. “Excuse me?”

“This meeting was supposed to be with Padalecki.” The guy buttons his coat back up and wraps a scarf around his neck.

Jensen does roll his eyes this time. “No, this meeting was supposed to be with me. Now do you want the President’s support on this bill or not? Because I have better things to do with my time.” Jensen sits up in his seat and checks his Blackberry again. He has three brand new emails, all about the vote that is supposed to happen in another two hours. Instead of running around the Hill for votes, he’s stuck in this goddamn room arguing with this douchebag over a meeting. On a bill that won’t even make it out of committee until September.

“I wanted a meeting with Padalecki.” The guy frowns and drops into his seat, defeated. His coat is still buttoned up.

“Well, Jared has better things to do with his time, too.” Jensen pulls his notepad towards him and pushes up his sleeves before grabbing his pen. “You got ten minutes.”

“Glad to see you’re still a dick, Ackles,” the guy grumbles before pulling his coat off.

Jensen just gives the guy a big old fake smile and mentally gives him the finger.

***

Part of Jensen hates being back in D.C.. It’s not just the constant reminder of everything he fucked up the last time he was there. It’s remembering what it’s really like to work there.
Campaigning, being out there every day and dealing with every day, normal people made him forget how fucking insane the Capital was. His own party, the Democrats, they’re all insane. It’s so easy to travel the country and tell people that they can do something good. It’s a whole other thing to actually show up in D.C. with an agenda a mile long and a hostile Congress.

Being a Congressional aide made Jensen hard. He grew up around politics, watched his dad move up from district rep to a state senator and it made Jensen want to do the same thing. He wasn’t stupid. He knew how hard it was. But he still wanted to do something good.

When Jensen had first moved to here after law school, he had this crazy idea in his head that he’d be able to actually do something good. He had a job that was useful and helpful and he would be able to help change lives. He had been surrounded by politics his entire life and it was by the time he was 27 and a year into his life in D.C. that he realized what a crapshoot the whole thing was.
Six months into the administration and Jensen has the same disappointment in his stomach that he did back then.

Being out on the road for a year and a half was fun. Talking to people out on the campaign trail every day, being reminded why he does this; he loved it. Now that he’s back in D.C., it’s like everything is back to the way it used to be and he’s forgetting why he came out in the first place. It brings back too many memories, too many fuck ups that Jensen would rather forget. It’s like he was a different person when he worked for the campaign. He was still an unapologetic asshole but people accepted him for who he was.

Even if he himself didn’t know who he was.

But since he’s been back in D.C., it’s like he’s reverting back to the Old Jensen. The guy who had everything lined up in a little row, just waiting for him to take it. Joanna had a file tucked away with polling numbers for Texas, already looking at houses a year into their relationship, and all Jensen had to do was say yes. He’s an Ackles and Texas Politics is practically in his blood. There was a Congressional seat with his name on it.

He threw it all away.

He’s not the guy who moved to D.C. after law school and he’s not the guy who left D.C. three years ago after screwing everything up. He’s different now.

Maybe it’s all Jared. Jared’s had him twisted around and fucked up since the moment they met. Jensen thought for sure he knew exactly who he was and Jared had to come along and fuck it all up. Jared challenged everything about Jensen - his beliefs, his views, his sexuality - Jared made him think twice about everything he thought he knew.

Danneel asked him once, during the Transition, if throwing away his relationship with Joanna and his perfect job with a high ranking Senator was worth standing up for what he believed.
Jensen didn’t hesitate to say yes back then. Jensen knows how much it sucks to not have Jared in his life and he’s not willing to go through that again. He’s trying for real this time, and if it doesn’t work at least he’ll know it’s because they aren’t right for each other and not because he was too scared to try.

It’s been anything but easy. They fight less than they used to during their days on the Hill, but they still bicker constantly. It still gets to Jensen more than when they argue over work because it’s Jared and there’s still all that history and hurt and love between them. But nowadays Jared brings him coffee as an apology and Jensen cooks him dinner and they make out on Jensen’s couch and it’s better.

Their first day in office, the President had pulled both of them aside and told them exactly how he expected them to act while in the building or at public events. In other words, keep their hands to themselves and pretend they weren’t even dating.

Jensen was ready to quit right then. The President was out of his fucking mind if he thought Jensen was going to hide who he was and was ready to quit the same day. Jared had pulled Jensen aside into his office and calmed him down.

I’ve been at this a lot longer than you have. He’s not being unreasonable. I know when to pick my battles, Jensen, Jared had told him as he tried to calm Jensen down.

Except Jensen knew for a fact that Danneel and Misha didn’t get the same speech. Misha was just as angry as Jensen was but Danneel had taken Jared’s side.

It’s not like he’s saying he doesn’t approve or he wants you to end it. He’s worried about what might happen.

It’s frustrating, but Jensen knows she was right. They’re public enough and there are enough crazies in the world to make this a little dangerous. Jared has Secret Service protection for fucks sake. Like, it’s required by law and isn’t that just a mind fuck.

But the only thing in the last few months that’s made any sense to him at all is Jared. Their steps back into a relationship, a real relationship this time, are slow and cautious. They still live in separate apartments (even if they spend the night together more often than not) and even with the insanity that is working in the White House, they manage to have some time to themselves. It’s not perfect but it’s the best they can do right now and Jensen’s happy in a way he hasn’t been in a long time.

***

Jensen trudges back to his office, rubbing his forehead warily. Two interns go running past him, papers flying as they rush to where ever they need to be. One of them almost takes him out as they go by and she turns and yells, “Sorry, Jensen!” before continuing down the hallway. She practically bounces off a doorframe and Jensen winces when he hears her elbow crack against the wood.

Jensen shakes his head and taps on the door of Jared’s office. He hears a faint, “come in,” and pushes the door open.

Jared’s leaning against his desk, hands resting on the edge and his ass crushing a pile of newspapers. He grins at Jensen and Jensen smiles back before he notices there’s someone else in the room. Which is not all that unusual, but the person in Jared’s office is a young, good looking guy who is standing way too close to Jared for Jensen’s comfort.
Jensen swallows and the guy grins at him easily and holds his hand out.

“Hey, man, I’m Chris Pine.”

The name sounds vaguely familiar, but Jensen can’t figure out where he knows the guy from. Jensen gives him a small smile and reaches out to shake the guy’s hand. He looks less like a politician and more like a college kid, dressed in sweater vest and a button down shirt and plain slacks, hair artfully messy. Jensen’s wearing the same suit he wore two days ago (it passed the sniff test this morning when he was half awake and running twenty minutes late) and he nervously pushes at his sleeves. The guy isn’t looking at him like he wants something. It’s more like he’s finally putting something together or answering questions he’s always had.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jensen…”

“You’re Jensen Ackles, I know, man,” Chris interrupts. “It’s really good to finally meet you. Jared talks about you all the time.”

Jared flushes and rubs at the back of his neck.

“Funny, ‘cause I’ve never heard of you before,” Jensen blurts out before he can stop himself. “Shit, I’m sorry, that was totally rude.” He rubs his forehead and averts his eyes.

Chris laughs. “It’s cool. Jared said you were meeting with Reid’s people again. I always need a drink after I meet with them. And I don’t piss them off just by existing,” he says, grinning broadly.

Jensen can’t help but return the grin. Jared reaches out and rests his hand on Jensen’s arm.

“Chris works for the DCCC. He was just bringing me new numbers.”Jared holds up a blue folder.

“Next election looks tough for you guys,” Chris says with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t know.” The party leaders weren’t too pleased when Jensen left D.C. in the first place. They were even less pleased with he got a Democrat elected President. There were hints that he could work his way back into the welcoming arms of the party for a price. They offered him a job that he considered for a split second, but he told them thanks but no thanks. He accepted a job with the President and stepped away from the party. There isn’t a place for him anywhere right now.

“What? They’ve got you locked up? Do they want to lose another election cycle?” Chris asks in disbelief.

“Well, they’ve gotten really good at losing,” Jared jokes and rubs his hand up and down Jensen’s arm.

“I already have a job. They did fine without me for two years, they’ll manage,” Jensen says with a shrug.

“Yeah, right, they’ve got Christian Kane running the RSCC. It’s way above his level,” Chris says, waving his hand in front of him. “They should’ve gotten you in there. Give ‘em a fighting chance, at least.”

Jensen swallows and glances at Jared for a split second before shifting away. “Once I made it clear my loyalties laid elsewhere, they weren’t exactly begging me to come back. And it wasn’t like I was begging them for a job.”

Chris smirks. “Yeah, when the President asks you to work for him, you don’t exactly say no. Not that I would know what that was like…”

“Stop your whining. Jensen’s our resident pretty boy. There isn’t enough room for the two of you.”

Jensen gives Jared the finger. “I’m not a pretty boy.”

Chris laughs. “Dude, I hate everything you stand for and I still want to hit it. You’re a pretty boy.”

“I’m going to leave if this shit keeps up.” Jensen rolls his eyes.

“I think that’s my queue to leave. I just wanted to drop those numbers off for Jared, anyway.” Chris hands a folder over to Jared. He grins at Jensen. “It was good to finally meet you.” Chris holds his hand out to Jensen again.

Jensen smiles tightly at Chris and shakes his hand. Chris turns to Jared and they hug before Chris pats him on the arm. Jensen feels a pinch in his gut at Chris’s hand on Jared. Jared clears his throat and Chris smirks, gathering his folders and waving at the two of them before leaving the office.

Jensen stares at Jared for a minute and Jared runs a hand through his hair before smiling softly at Jensen. “Did you see the papers this morning?”

“I can’t decide which was worse, the Wisdom quote or the unnamed White House source quote.”

Jared scowls and sits on the edge of his desk. “We’re screwed if he decides to run.”

“We’re screwed if this ‘Unnamed White House source’ decides to call the Times again.” Jensen rubs his eyes. “This is the third story in a week.”

“I know.” Jared runs a hand through his hair and changes the subject. “How’d the meeting go?”

It’s pretty much the last thing he wants to talk about right now. They’ve got this leak, Senator Wisdom is making him nervous, and now this punk kid from the DCCC. That look between the two of them was too cozy for his comfort.

“I don’t think I’m on the Majority Leader’s Christmas card list anymore,” Jensen jokes, breaking the tension.

Jared throws his head back and laughs, and Jensen feels that same familiar tug in his stomach and knows his face is flushed. Jared reaches out and pulls Jensen closer to him, their hips lining up. Jensen glances over his shoulder and sees that Chris closed the door on his way out. He rests his head on Jared’s chest for a minute and takes a deep breath.

“I hate to break it to you, but I doubt you ever were,” Jared murmurs into his hair.

“Damn. I’m gonna cry myself to sleep tonight.”

***

Jensen heads down to the communications office to watch the daily press briefing, snacks and coffee for Danneel in his hands. Danneel overworks herself and stresses to the point that she forgets to eat, and Jensen has to watch Misha’s daily briefing anyway. This way he has an excuse to bring Danneel lunch and spend ten minutes talking about something other than his job. It’s win win.

When Jensen gets there he hands Danneel her sandwich and flops down on the couch in her office with a groan.

“Oh god,” Jensen moans and presses his face into the cushions. It feels amazing to stop for a minute.

“Good afternoon, Jensen, I’m great, thanks for asking.” Danneel slams something down on her desk.

Jensen sits up and smiles meekly at her. “Hi, Danneel, did you have a good day?”

Danneel gives him the stink eye and unwraps her sandwich. “Did Jared seriously send you to meet with Reid’s people?” She takes a bite of her sandwich and chews angrily.

“Road to hell, good intentions, blah blah blah,” Jensen says, waving his hand over his head. “He still thinks I might get along with these people one day.”

Danneel rolls her eyes, places her sandwich down on the wrapper and opens a bottle of water. She takes a long drink from the bottle and twists the cap back on. “Jared Padalecki, eternal optimist.”

Danneel’s phone rings and she groans before picking it up. “Danneel Harris.” She’s quiet for a moment before saying, “Yes, can you hold, please? I have to pull my notes.”

She puts the phone on hold and whacks the phone down against the desk a few times. Jensen almost falls off the couch in shock, and Danneel takes a deep breath before she picks up the line again. “How can I help you?”

Jensen eats his sandwich, half listening to Danneel’s conversation and half watching the T.V.. After about five minutes she slams the phone down and sits back in her chair.

“I’m thinking about moving back to Louisiana and opening a bakery. What do you think, wanna go halfsies?” Danneel pushes her hair back and pulls her sandwich towards her, picking at the bread.

“I can’t bake worth shit,” Jensen warns. “And Jared would have to come too.”

Danneel rolls her eyes but at least she’s smiling now. “Okay, Jared can come too,” she says as she picks up her lunch and walks over to sit next to Jensen. She pulls her legs underneath her and leans against Jensen’s side to get a better view of the T.V..

About five minutes into the briefing, Danneel grabs the remote for the T.V. and puts it on mute. Jensen raises an eyebrow at her.

“There was another article today,” she says, twisting her hands in her lap.

“I know.” Jensen glances at the T.V.

“And…” Danneel bites her bottom lip.

“What?”

“I got into a fight with the First Lady this morning.”

“Why aren’t you updating your resume instead of sitting here talking to me?”

Danneel hits his arm. “You’re supposed to be supportive, asshole.”

“Sorry,” he says and wraps an arm around her shoulder. “How bad?”

“Remember that fight you had with Jared, like the first week of the campaign?”

Jensen nods. “And he broke the door to the conference room,” he says.

“Yeah, that bad.”

Jensen grimaces and rubs his hand over his eyes. “Shit, Harris.”

“Yeah.” She laughs. “I’m surprised I’m not packing my office up as we speak,” she says softly.

“He’s not gonna fire you for getting into a fight with the First Lady.”

“It was about the kids, Jensen. I’m fucked.” She rubs her eyes. “She just…she doesn’t get it!”

Jensen bites his bottom lip and opens his mouth to speak, but doesn’t say anything.

“I know, I need to learn to keep my mouth shut,” Danneel mumbles.

Jensen shakes his head. “No, you really don’t. It’s your job to tell her that kinda shit, okay? Even if Jared or Misha or fuck, even me, even if we have to go over your head. It’s still your job to tell her what she doesn’t want to hear.”

Danneel bites at her bottom lip. “This job kinda sucks sometimes.”

Jensen puts the sound back on the T.V. “No kidding.”

***

There’s another Senior Staff meeting later that day in the Roosevelt Room. Jensen’s got three newspapers tucked under his arm as he walks into the room. He’s spent half the morning going over what he knows about the leak in his head, again and again and he keeps coming to the same conclusion.

He’s just not ready to voice it yet.

Sophia’s is the first one there, sitting at the end of the table with a cup of coffee and her laptop. She glances up when the door opens and barely hides a scowl before turning her attention back to her work. Jensen smiles weakly at her and sits at the middle of the table, dumping his newspapers and notepad on the table.

It’s not unusual for the staff not to get along like lifelong best friends. The Senior Staff, for the most part, has a mutual respect for each other that gets them through the day. After spending a year and a half on the campaign trail with them , Jensen really does like his coworkers. They’re funny and smart, and they care. Even if he disagrees with them most of the time, Jensen likes working with them.

Except for Sophia.

They have a mutual distaste for each other that goes back years. Jensen’s put his differences aside with Chad, Jared, and even a few low level staffers Jensen used to spend his time arguing with on the Hill. Jensen counts Chad as one of the few friends he has, someone who isn’t afraid to say to his face when Jensen is a fuck up and when he’s got a good idea for once. There are a lot of people Jensen used to despise that he actually likes now.

But he and Sophia don’t get along at all. It’s mostly his fault; she was one of the few people In The Know about the disaster that happened between him and Jared, and Sophia’s never forgiven him. She hates the two of them together, tried to talk Jared out of them getting together again and now spends her time looking like she’s plotting ways to kill Jensen in his sleep. He’s a little afraid of her.
They manage to avoid working too closely together. Jensen spent more time working at the office during the campaign and Sophia was out of the office almost constantly, so Jensen didn’t see her much. Even now, they rarely see each other.

It makes Senior Staff meetings awkward. They’re both professionals and but they still manage to get their digs in sometimes. Even worse, it makes thing awkward for Danneel. Jensen feels awful, but he and Sophia are never going to get along.

Jensen checks his watch again and sighs before pulling his set of newspapers towards him. He eyes Sophia warily and reads the first article he has circled.

There was a meeting the day before on an amendment to an education bill going through Congress. The President had made an offhand comment about funding. There were maybe ten people in the room when he made the comment.

It was in that day’s copy of The New York Times. The article wasn’t even front page news but it was still there, a quote from the President.

The quote should’ve never been printed. The people in the room where high level White House staffers who know better than to open their mouths to a reporter and give them this quote. There are already rumblings on the Hill about it and the blogs picked it up early this morning. Normally, Jensen wouldn’t give it too much thought, because maybe someone said something to someone else and it got leaked.

No, Jensen’s nervous because it’s not one quote. There are three other articles on seemingly small issues with quotes from the President or a quote from a high level staffer. Its shit that people say in closed meetings that aren’t ever supposed to go beyond the room, except there it is, quoted in the Washington Post with an annoying, anonymous source.

A leak wouldn’t normally worry him; someone says the wrong thing sometimes and it ends up in The Times the next day. They run a tight ship but it’s still impossible to keep anything on the down low for very long. It’s a good thing; it keeps them accountable, keeps them honest. But this is different. This is information that keeps negotiations going, deals made between parties, stuff that needs to stay quiet so they have to work things out without Fox News making commentary on the whole process.

This is the stuff that’s getting out. Stuff that makes their job harder.

Jensen has his suspicions on who it might be. He reads the quote again and throws the newspaper back on the table as Aldis walks into the room.

“Fuck my life.” Aldis faceplants onto the table.

“No swearing in the White House,” the President says as he walks into the room, Secret Service behind him. They all stand and wait for him to walk around the table and sit, before they sit down as well.

“Sorry, sir,” Aldis says, looking sheepish.

The President grins and adjusts his suit jacket. A few seconds later, Jared hurries into the room, fixing his jacket as he hurries towards his seat.

“Sorry, sorry, there was a thing and I was waylaid by some idiot interns…” Jared trails off. “I’m sorry, sir,” he finishes, looking nervous.

“It’s okay,” the President smirks and leans back in his chair. “You ready for this meeting, Jared?”

“Yessir,” he says and sits down in the chair on the other side of Jensen.

The President eyes him for a minute. “Alright, whadda got for me?”

&&&

Jared’s laid out on his living room couch when Jensen finally gets home from the office. He glances at his watch and groans at the hour. He has about four hours to sleep before he has to get up again.
Jared’s passed out on his stomach, hair flopped over his eyes and arms curled around one of the couch pillows. His suit jacket is thrown over the back of the couch, his shoes in a pile on the floor. Jensen leans over the back of couch and runs his hand through Jared’s hair, resting his hand on the back of Jared’s neck.

“Time issit?” Jared mumbles sleepily.

“You don’t wanna know,” Jensen says softly and rubs his thumb along Jared’s shoulder. “You’re gonna hurt in the morning if you don’t get off the couch.”

Jared nods sleepily before his eyes flutter open. He turns his head awkwardly to look at Jensen and smiles. “What took you so long?”

“Got caught up with some stuff.” It’s not all that unusual for one of them to stay late, researching or writing memos. Jensen moves his hand as Jared sits up, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. Jared stands up and stretches his arms over his head and yawns sleepily. They both stumble towards the bedroom, Jensen kicking his shoes off. Jared stumbles onto the bed, faceplants into the pillows and groans.

Jensen stands next to him, hands on his hips. “Jared, c’mon. You can’t sleep in your suit.”

Jared turns over onto his back and grabs Jensen’s wrist, pulling him down on top of him. Jensen lets out an oomph, his face pressed into Jared’s neck. Jared rests his hand low on Jensen’s back and Jensen relaxes.

“When was the last time we had a day off?” Jared mumbles.

Jensen shrugs. “When was the last time we got more than four hours of sleep in one night?”

Jared lets out a low laugh. “When was the last time…” Jared yawns widely.

“Go to sleep.”

Jensen wakes up the next morning alone in bed. He can hear the murmur of the television, Jared moving around the kitchen, opening cupboard doors. Jensen rolls over and glances at the clock, groaning.
He turns his head when he hears a knock on the door.

Jared holds up a cup of coffee. “We’re gonna be late.”

Jensen shrugs and turns over onto his back, eyes still on Jared. “What’s up?”

Jared sits down on the edge of the bed and hands Jensen a cup of coffee. “Same shit, different day.”

Which means nothing big has come out during the few hours Jensen had spent sleeping. A bad day is when he wakes up and the world’s already gone to shit. A good day is when it hasn’t gone to shit before 7A.M.

Jensen takes a long drink of his coffee before pulling himself up to sit against the headboard. Jared scoots up next to him, his own cup of coffee in hand. He doesn’t turn on the T.V. ,just leans against Jensen as they both drink their coffee.

It’s about as quiet as the day is going to get and Jensen wants to enjoy it.

His Blackberry vibrates on the bedside table and he groans, pressing his face into Jared’s neck. Jared chuckles before reaching over and grabbing it.

And so his day begins.

&&&

July

“Oh god, kill me please.”

Jensen doesn’t look up from his laptop but pushes the knife from his dinner across the table. He feels a piece of paper bounce off his head and he finally looks up from his work.

“What?”

Aldis rolls his eyes and crumples up another piece of paper and throws it into the trashcan. “Aren’t you supposed to be supportive of your staff in their time of need?”

“And aren’t you supposed to be finishing that speech over there? Do you have a draft or are you just gonna keep bitchin’ at me all night?” Jensen grumbles, his glasses sliding low on his nose.

“I thought I’d keep bitchin’ at you all night,” Aldis starts, balling up another piece of paper and throwing it at Jensen. “Because you’re supposed to be helping me, not surfing the internet for porn or whatever you’re doing over there.”

Jensen flips Aldis off and pushes his laptop away from him. “I’m trying to work, but there’s this obnoxious, whiny brat distracting me.”

Aldis looks at him for a minute, mouth open in surprise. “Wow, Ackles. Way to make a guy feel welcome.” Aldis starts grabbing his stuff, stuffing his notepad into his bag when Jensen reaches out and grabs his hand.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I’m being a dick. Just sit down, okay?” Jensen rubs his eyes.

Aldis eyes him warily before pulling his notepad back out again. “You’re not gonna yell at me again?”

Jensen shakes his head. “Sorry, it’s just. It’s just stress.”

Aldis eyes him for a moment before he nods and turns to a new page in his notebook. He pulls a pen out and starts writing again, scratching the back of his head occasionally.

It’s a long weekend and the President is at Camp David with his family. Some of the staff took a couple days off, but Misha, Danneel and Jared all went with the First Family for the holiday weekend. Jensen stayed behind to catch up on work, taking advantage of a quieter West Wing to get stuff done. Jared offered to stay with him but Jensen sent him off with a wave and said he needed some time to catch up.

It’s only half the truth. He is ridiculously behind on his work, but that’s nothing new. There’s no such thing as catching up. Everything happens and changes too quickly and it’s impossible to keep up with. He doesn’t tell Jared the real reason but he knows Jared suspects something’s up.

He hasn’t seen his family since Christmas. When he was home, trying to figure out what to bring back to D.C. with him, his sister guilt tripped him into coming home for the holiday. But he had words with his father and he hasn’t really spoken to them since.

Every Fourth of July is the big Ackles Family picnic. It’s a big deal, one of the biggest events in Dallas. But since his father decided to finally retire his state Senate seat and spend more time at home. This is the first year in decades that the family won’t be holding the annual event.

Instead his parents decided to come to D.C. and Jensen’s been trying to avoid his cell ever since their plane arrived.

They weren’t pleased when they found out from about his relationship with Jared from Fox News instead of from Jensen himself. They were even less pleased about reporters asking about it, about the phone calls from constituents about it. They were more disappointed than anything else because Jensen’ll never run for public office now, never get married and carry on the Ackles legacy, never do anything his father wanted for him. Jensen’s old enough to make his own decisions but to not step up and take over the Senate seat that’s had an Ackles in it since 1900 is almost too much for his dad. Maybe if they actually met Jared, they’d like him enough to move on and be okay with Jensen, but right now? They’re so disappointed that Jensen doesn’t want to risk it.

But he’s meeting them for dinner tonight and he can’t avoid the conversation any longer. He can’t hide away in the White House like a little kid.

Aldis was the only one still around and the guy had followed him around all weekend, crashing on the couch in Jensen’s office to work on speeches for the upcoming trip through Europe. He’s annoyed but now he was almost glad for the company. Aldis is the most laid back guy on the staff and if he’s gonna spend a weekend having another life crisis, he’d rather it be with someone like Aldis around.

“This draft is kicking my ass.” Aldis wipes his eyes. The guy looks exhausted.

Jensen closes his laptop and waves his hand. “Where’s the rest of your staff? Aren’t they supposed to be helping you with this? Isn’t that why we hired a speechwriting staff in the first place?”

Aldis shrugs. “They either won’t tell me if something sucks, or they’re too busy trying to take my job that they’re ,you know, unhelpful.”

Jensen laughs. “Oh, so me being a dick is actually helpful for once?”

“Alright, don’t get too cocky. Just…”

Jensen gets it. Aldis is damn good, one of the best speechwriters Jensen’s seen in long time, but he’s still young. Jensen knows how rare it is to find that perfect fit with another writer, to find someone who gets what you’re trying to say. Jensen can write his way out of a paper bag if he had to, but he’s not a speechwriter. Until Aldis finds someone he can work with that doesn’t make him crazy, Jensen can give up another hour of sleep to help the guy.

“How far along are you?”

Aldis taps the table with his pencil and frowns. “It’s mostly done and everything. I’m just not sure about the themes.”

Jensen raises an eyebrow and starts reading, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “Isn’t it a little late to have that problem?”

Aldis smirks. “You know me, man. It’s not a Hodge production unless I rewrite half of it the night before.”

Jensen grins and grabs a pencil. Aldis lets him read the speech and he makes a few notes in the margins. Before, Aldis would throw the thing at him and run away, terrified to see the look on Jensen’s face if he didn’t like something. Nowadays, Aldis would rather see that look on Jensen’s face than on the face of President of the United States.

It’s been almost six months since they took office and that phrase still freaks Jensen out sometimes.

“This is what he wanted to talk about, right?” Jensen pulls his glasses off his face. “It’s not terrible.”

Aldis frowns. “But it’s not good either. Dammit.”

Aldis never gets worked up or frustrated. Ever. Even on the most stressful days of the campaign, even for the Inauguration, Aldis is always laid back and cool, never lets anything get to him. A minor speech for the Europe trip shouldn’t be stressing him out like this.

Jensen turns the pages back over and places the pad facedown onto the desk. He sits back in his chair, crossing his arms against his chest.

“Okay, what’s up?”

Aldis looks up, surprised. “What?”

“You never get stressed out. I’m pretty sure you give Misha a run for his money in the zen master category. So what’s up?”

Aldis sits back, hands resting on the back of his head. “I guess I just didn’t expect it to be like this.”

Jensen nods. “You’re not the only one.”

Aldis shrugs, frown set deeply on his face. “It’s just, you know. Been kinda shitty lately.”

That’s an understatement. Their agenda took off those first few months in office, but they’re coming up on their sixth month in office and sometimes Jensen feels like they’ve gotten nothing done. They’re hitting a slump, a few weeks before the Congressional recess and everyone’s stressed out and tired. Even on the busiest days on the campaign never felt this bad.

And the leaks are getting worse and worse.

“The President would say this is when we really have to work. Like this is why we’re here.”

Aldis shrugs. “I’m not sayin’ it’s not true. But man, don’t you think it’s been even worse lately? The leaks, that editorial last week…”

Jensen frowns. An editorial on the failings of the administration isn’t all that uncommon. Even if you’re doing fifteen things right, there’s always someone who thinks you’re doing those fifteen things completely wrong. But to see an editorial alongside a story that shouldn’t have made it into the paper is just making things worse. Misha isn’t worried and says it just comes with the territory, but it’s starting to get to all of them

“It happens. It’s impossible to keep that many people in line.”

Aldis rubs his eyes. “I’m just sayin’ that this much shit getting out there isn’t good. “

Jensen shrugs. The last thing he needs is this hanging over Aldis’ head while the guy is trying to write a speech. Especially when it’s not even his job to worry about it. “We’ll be okay. I mean…hell, we got through that campaign, didn’t we?”

Aldis laughs. “Oh, man, it was really touch and go for awhile there. I was sure there was gonna be some story about Jared killing you and leaving the body on the conference room table.”

Jensen smirks. “See, it could be worse.”

Aldis shakes his head. “Seriously though. Don’t you think…”

“If there’s a leak, we’ll catch it. Someone’s gonna slip up soon. We can’t sit and worry about it, okay?”

Aldis nods. “Is the draft that bad?”

“It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen. But I’m not sure this sentence here is, you know, English.”

Aldis throws his pen at Jensen and Jensen ducks out of the way before it connects with his face. “I shoulda written movie scripts or somethin’.”

&&&

The city is packed for the holiday weekend but Jensen manages to get a table at Clyde’s later that week to meet his parents for dinner. He usually hates pulling his I’m a White House Staffer card but he can’t stand to sit in the middle of a popular restaurant and have it out with his parents. His favorite waitress is on for the night, so she seats them in the back.

His mother looks him over as he fiddles with his menu and he feels about fifteen years old again.

“What?”

“Have you been sleeping? You look exhausted.”

Jensen resists rolling his eyes and folds his menu down on the table. “I’m fine, mom. I’m just busy.”

“You should be getting more sleep.” She purses her lips. “You look like you haven’t slept all week.”

Honestly, he really hasn’t, but he’s not about to tell his mother that.

“And don’t you eat?” His mother eyes him. “You’re too skinny.”

“Ma, I eat just fine.”

“Donna, leave him alone.” His father closes his menu. “Where’s your…where’s Jared?”

Jensen swallows and opens his menu again, just to give himself something to do. Only his parents can make him feel years younger. “He went to Camp David with the First Family for the holiday.”

His father nods, staring at him critically. “I see. Isn’t there something going on in Congress? Isn’t there some vote that’s a little more important than a vacation?”

Jensen tries not to roll his eyes again. “Yeah Dad, there’s a vote on the budget next week. But considering most of Congress is gone for the next three days, it’s pointless to keep anyone here.”

His father shrugs. “I’m just saying, Jensen. I wouldn’t skip town before a big vote.”

Jensen bites back a comment and throws his menu back down on the table, hoping to catch the waitress’ eyes. “The President has a full office on Air Force One and at Camp David. He could run a war while on vacation if he wanted.”

“Boys, lets drop the shop talk for at least part of dinner.” His mom grabs his father’s hand. “Give the boy a break, can’t you see how tired he is?”

“Alright. So, how are things with Jared?”

Jensen swallows. “They’re fine.”

The waitress comes over just then to take their orders and Jensen wishes he could’ve blown this whole thing off.

“I see you two are in the papers an awful lot.” His father takes his beer from the waitress.

“Well, Dad, we do work for the President. It’s kind of a big deal.”

His mother smirks while his father scowls. “Yes, but it seems like the two of you are always out at some fundraiser.”

Jensen hears the implication in his dad’s voice. Flaunting their relationship in front of the world. The whole thing is ridiculous because they’ve been to exactly one fundraiser and the rest were White House events, and they weren’t even sitting together at the same table for those. But to a good portion of the country, even when they stand next to each other, they’re ‘shoving their relationship in everyone’s face’.

“We’re just busy guys, I guess.” He downs half of his beer.

His father shrugs. “It’s just too bad. You had a bright future with the party. I could’ve raised a lot of money for you.”

Jensen takes a deep breath. “You ever think that maybe I never wanted to run for the damn seat in the first place?”

His mother frowns. “Sweetie, we’re just saying you could’ve been the first Ackles to run for Congress.”

“And instead you’re slumming it with some hippie,” his father spits out.

“Oh, for…” Jensen rolls his eyes. “I work for the President, okay, not some hippie. I’m sorry I betrayed the family name to go work for a Democrat, but it’s already done.”

“You could’ve had a real future with the party. And now…” His mother shrugs.

This is exactly why he avoids his family at all costs. It’s not so much that they disapprove of his whole relationship with Jared, it’s that he threw away the chance to take over his father’s seat just by being with a man and working for a Democrat. Like he could never go back and work for the party again.

“So, how is Mack doing?” Jensen asks, trying to change the subject.

His father eyes him warily before launching into how much he hates Mackenzie’s boyfriend and Jensen inwardly sighs with relief.

&&&

The White House is a mad house when Jensen gets in a few days later, signaling the return of the President. He takes the long way to his office, stopping by to see Danneel before he actually has to work.

“I can’t believe you and Aldis went out drinking without me.”

Jensen flops down in a chair and rests his feet on top of her desk. “What? We were the only ones in town.”

“Yes, but it’s still not fair.” Danneel shuffles some papers on her desk. “The first lady was up my ass all weekend.”

Jensen winces. “Danni…”

“I know, I know.” She runs a hand through her hair. “It wasn’t even my fault! Chad had to start in on the kids and it started this huge fight. And then we had the photographer around for pictures and she yelled at me in front of everyone over it!”

“She hates it when we put the kids out there, but we have to. You have to get through to her. She just takes it out on you because she thinks you should be more sympathetic.”

“Well, she clearly hates me. God, you’d think she’d love the women on staff but she acts like I’m the dumbest person in the room.”

“She doesn’t hate you.” Jensen sits up. “She’s just, she has high expectations, okay?” Jensen rubs his eyes. “Look, she’s pissed that you turned down the job in her office.”

Danneel sputters. “How is she still mad about that? It was months ago! And she really wanted me to turn down my dream job? Or at least a shot at my dream job?”

“Just smooth things over with her, okay? Before it ends up in The Times.”

Danneel snorts. “That would be the least of my worries.” She sighs and leans back in her chair. “How was it, seeing your parents?”

Jensen shrugs. “The usual. You know, betraying the family name, working for a hippie Democrat.”

“Are they seriously more upset that you’re working for a Democrat than that you’re fucking a guy?” Danneel shakes her head. “That is fucked up.”

Jensen laughs. “Danni, you don’t get it. The Ackles have been the backbone of the Texas Republican Party since it basically came into existence. I’m pretty sure they’d be fine with Jared if he was a Republican.”

“Seriously?”

“Maybe not thrilled, but yeah. You know how the tide’s turning. It’s slow as molasses, but it’s not going to be too much longer that the GOP can keep this stance on gay rights.”

“Okay, there’s no way they’re turning around on that one.”

Jensen shrugs. “It’s only a matter of time. I’m not sayin’ they’re going to have a float in the next Pride parade, but they’re gonna loosen up. They aren’t going to have a choice.”

“Not your father’s district.”

“Probably not. But my father isn’t some backwoods hick. He would’ve run for Congress if my mother didn’t ask him to retire. He’s a lot more progressive than half the party, he’s a lot more progressive than half the Democratic party. Don’t act like the Democrats have the most amazing stance on gay rights.”

Danneel frowns. “Yeah, but…I guess I just don’t see it happening.”

Jensen shrugs. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

He’s never really told anyone that he walked away from his job over that vote. Danneel, Chad, Jared, all thought Jensen walked away because things went to shit with Jared. He’s never told them why he left.

Danneel smiles. “You are here. Even if I think you’re totally wrong about ninety percent of the time.”

“Only ninety percent of the time? I must be getting too much liberal juice all over me to be right at least ten percent of the time.”

“Ew, Jensen, liberal juice? Bad words, bad words.”

&&&

There are about a million other ways Jensen would rather spend a Friday night. Like sleeping. Spending some time with his boyfriend. Sleeping. He’s a fan of sleeping.

He fakes another smile and grabs a champagne glass from a nearby waiter and drains the glass quickly. Jared grabs his arm and gives him a look.

Spending an evening with most of the HRC and GLBT groups in D.C. is not Jensen’s idea of a fun way to pass a Friday night. But Jared’s the keynote speaker, the pride and joy of the GLBT community, being the White House Chief of Staff and out and proud at the same time. Jensen knows that Jared’s spent years working for gay rights.
Jensen still feels like he’s faking it most of the time.

It hits him sometimes, that he has a boyfriend and is in a serious relationship, one that makes people’s heads explode just at the thought. He spent years not caring about gay rights and what they meant and here he is now, in the thick of it. Jared’s been one of the most active and public figures over the last few years and now that he’s in the White House, there’s growing pressure to make gay rights high on the President’s agenda.

It’s been a sore spot for most of their tenure with the Administration.

Jared wants to be more active in the community, wants to make more speaking engagements, push more initiatives through Congress and push the President towards a more liberal stance on gay rights. The President’s come a long way in the last two years, but Jared’s not satisfied. He’s been getting rumblings from the HRC and more progressive Democrats about the President’s agenda.
But Jensen, he knows. He loves Jared more than anything, but it’s anything but easy. Pushing through the agenda that Jared wants isn’t gonna happen.

They’ve gotten into more fights over it than anything else.

“Thanks for coming tonight,” Jared says and he rests his hand low on Jensen’s back.

Jensen shrugs and places the empty glass on a nearby table. He pulls at the sleeves of his jacket. “It’s important to you.”

Jared makes a frustrated noise and turns to face Jensen. “It’s important for both of us.”

Jensen nods and gives Jared an awkward smile. “Right, for both of us.”

Jared frowns but his hand settles down on Jensen’s back again. He presses his mouth against the side of Jensen’s head before steering him towards a group of people.

Awesome. It’s Chris Pine, smiling and laughing like this is the best place ever.

Jensen kind of wants to punch the kid right in the face.

“You guys made it!” Chris reaches out to hug Jared. “I can’t wait to hear your speech, Jared.”

Jensen grinds his teeth and forces a smile when Chris holds his hand out for Jensen to shake.

But Jared’s smiling and wraps his arm around Jensen’s shoulders.

“You nervous?” Chris rests his hands on his hips, grinning, his eyes crinkling at the edges. Jensen hates the guy just for existing.

Jared laughs. “Not really, no. Jensen and Aldis helped me with the speech,” he says. He grins down at Jensen and Jensen tries and fails to smile back.

“ So, Jared, what are the chances…” Chris starts.

Jared throws his head back, laughing. “Oh man, don’t ask me for a meeting with the President. You’re lucky I got Jensen in the building tonight, his head’ll explode if you guys end up in the Oval.”

Jensen frowns and pulls away from Jared. He gives Jared an uneasy smile and grabs the nearest waiter, ordering something stronger than champagne. He glances over at Chris and holds back a scowl, seeing Chris frowning.

“Man, how about those numbers in Texas?” Jared jumps in, quickly changing the subject.

The waiter comes back with his drink as Jared and Chris talk excitedly about the new numbers out of Texas and the chances for the party there. Jensen half listens, but mostly watches the two of them together, laughing and joking. Chris’ hand keeps landing on Jared’s arm and Chris is standing too close to Jared for Jensen’s comfort. Jensen’s getting the feeling that there was something more than friendship between the two of them, but he’s not about to ask either one of them about it.

Jensen’s never been the jealous type. He’s never been the guy who felt like he had to stake a claim. But watching Jared and Chris together puts him on edge.

“So, you guys’ll be there, right?” Chris looks at him questioningly.

“Uh…” Jensen starts.

“You know, we’ll get back to you. It’s just really busy right now, you know?” Jared jumps in, resting his hand on Jensen’s arm. He gives Jensen a pointed look.

“Yeah, we’ll get back to you.” Jensen smiles fakely at Chris.

“No, it’s cool. I know it’s kinda crazy right now.” Chris nods towards the stage. “I think we’re starting soon, if you guys wanna sit down.”

They mutter goodbyes and Jared practically drags him across the room to their table. Jensen slides into his seat and immediately orders another drink. Jared scowls but orders a drink of his own. Sophia slides into the chairs across from them, raising an eyebrow at both of them.

“Wow, Jared, I can’t believe you got Jensen out of the office.” She sips her champagne and a guy sits down next to her.

Jared just smiles and holds out his hand. “Hey man.”

Sophia’s date reaches out to shake Jared’s hand. “This is Jason. He works for The Times.”

Jensen’s stomach drops and he glances over at Sophia. She’s smirking at her date and Jared’s just shaking his hand, like the guy is some constituent they have to win over. Jensen shakes the guys hand too, still looking at Sophia. The lights start to dim and Jensen turns towards Jared.

“What’s up?” Jensen glances around the room before resting his hand on top of Jared’s.

Jared turns his palm over and twines their fingers together. He gives Jensen a tired smile.

“We can talk about it later.”

“Let’s just enjoy the night off?” Jensen smiles awkwardly.

“Yeah, the night off.” Jared pulls his hand away and grabs his drink.

It’s not much of a night off, but Jensen’ll take what he can get.

&&&

They don’t talk about it until the next morning. Jensen’s rushing to get ready to go into the office for a few hours and he’s running later than he’d like. He drank more than he had expected and woke up with a pounding headache and a stomachache.

Unfortunately, Jared decides that having this conversation at 6 A.M. is a good idea.

“I just wish you took this more seriously.”

“Jared, I went to the damn event with you. What more do you want from me?” Jensen drains the rest of his coffee.

“It’s like you don’t even care!” Jared throws his hands up.

“I just don’t think it’s gonna do any good. I don’t see the Democratic Party lining up to help out here, so why should we put our necks out? They couldn’t even run a good counter campaign against Prop 8, but you want us to give them a voice in the administration?”

“That’s not the point.” Jared paces through the kitchen. “We have to set an example.”

Jensen glances at his reflection in the stove and straightens his tie. “God, Jared! Just look at what happened in Maine! They aren’t going to start winning campaigns just because the President approves. We can’t make this our biggest fight.”

“Why not? They’re the only ones speaking up and they need us. What, you want us to just pretend they don’t exist?”

Jensen shakes his head. “Jared, it’s not worth…”

“Oh, for fucks sake, Jensen! When are you gonna stop pretending you’re not part of this?”

Jensen slams his empty coffee cup down on the counter. Jared stills, his hands buried in his hair.

“This is…”Jensen takes a deep breath. “I was campaigning against this four years ago, okay? I can’t just…it’s not…I’m not that guy.”

Jared narrows his eyes. “How long is it gonna take you to get past this? You’re gay, Jensen. Or bi-sexual, whatever. You don’t have to put a fuckin’ label on it. But you have a boyfriend and you should give a shit about what that fucking means.”

“You think I don’t know what it means? I’m not like you, Jared. I can’t just change overnight, okay?”

“We’ve been together for over six months! How are you still worked up over this?”

Jensen throws his hands up over his head and stalks out of the kitchen.

“Hey! Don’t fuckin’ walk out on this.”

Jensen spins around and points a finger at Jared. “I’m not like you, okay? I’m not Mr. Wonderful that everyone fuckin’ loves. People hate me, Jared. Honest to God, try to leave the room when I walk in. Don’t flip out at me because I’m not ready to march in a parade or go be the face of gay rights or something.”

Jared takes a few steadying breaths before taking a step towards Jensen and resting his hand on Jensen’s arm.

“I know. It’s not…I know it’s hard, okay?” Jared swallows and pulls Jensen flush against him. “And people like you,” he whispers against Jensen’s forehead. “I like you.”

Jensen takes a deep breath. “I always knew you were nuts.”

Jared laughs a little and pulls back. “I’m not expecting you to go be the Grand Marshal or something, okay? I just wish you’d fight a little harder for us. I wish I could talk to you about this. It’s like you’re…” Jared swallows.

“I’m not ashamed of you, okay? I just can’t put my personal life out there for everyone to judge. It’s bad enough that Danni and Chad and everyone know what happened. You know Sophia still hates me because of all that shit? I just, I don’t…”

He really can’t say, we can’t be the face of gay rights because when I fuck this up and we break up, it’ll just make things worse.

“I get it.” Jared leans down and kisses him softly. “You don’t want to fuck this up and neither do I. And you hate being center of attention. It’s not fair to ask you to put everything out there.”

Jensen kisses him again, pushing his hands into Jared’s hair. Jared backs him up against the counter, grinning against Jensen’s mouth.

When Jensen leaves the apartment awhile later, he grabs the newspaper before Jared can. He feels his stomach drop when he reads the front page article.
An anonymous White House official revealed today that the Administration is courting Senator Wisdom of North Carolina, in hopes to delay the Senator announcing an amendment to the budget bill. The Republicans have threatened to hold up the vote for another week if Senator Wisdom attaches the provision…

&&&

The first Senior Staff meeting of the day is usually pretty laid back. Unless something went bad in the few hours they were all at home, Jensen can count on that first meeting to be good. If that meeting goes shitty, the rest of his day is downhill from there.

He holds Jared’s coffee cup along with his own while Jared juggles his notepad and a newspaper, pen between his teeth. He drops the paper on the ground and groans. Jensen puts the two coffee cups on Jared’s desk and bends down to grab the paper.

“Dude, you okay?” Jensen hands everything back over to Jared again, who finally has everything in order. Jensen grabs his coffee and takes a sip.

“Yeah, sorry,” Jared says quickly.

Jensen raises an eyebrow and Jared sighs. He glances at the open door and back at Jensen again.

“Can we talk about it later?”

Jensen nods but now he’s nervous about the meeting. Jared going into it this stressed out is never a good sign.

They walk together to the Oval Office, walking as close together as they can get away with. The halls are surprisingly busy for the early hour but it’s a big week.

They’re the first ones to the Oval and Jensen sits in his usual spot. The President’s behind his desk shifting through papers as Aldis stands next to him. Jared sits down next to Jensen, their thighs pressing against each other, and Jensen sips his coffee and presses a little closer.

Jensen’s so focused on his coffee and Jared sitting close to him that he doesn’t notice that Aldis has left the room, leaving them alone with the President. He smiles sheepishly at the President, who’s sitting down in a chair and looking at him knowingly.

“Sorry, sir.” Jensen coughs. “Late night.”

“It’s alright. I wanted to talk to you two before we got everyone else in here.”

Jensen sits up straighter and glances over at Jared, and sees that he’s doing the same.

“I want to talk about the leaks.” The President looks at both of them before looking down at his coffee. “I really don’t want to accuse my staff of doing something like this, but I think you agree with me. It can’t go on like this.”

“Yes, sir,” Jared says softly.

“I have a few ideas but I want to hear from you first. Where do we start?”

Jensen swallows. He knows where the President is about to go with this and he knows he couldn’t be more wrong.

“It’s gotta be from the press office,” Jared finally says, voice steady. “I trust Misha.”

“I do, too,” the President says. He looks over at Jensen.

“Sir, I don’t…” Jensen starts. “Not Danneel.”

The President and Jared exchange a look.

“Are you sure, Jared?”

“Not…not completely. But it makes sense.”

The President nods and glances at Jensen. “Who do you think it is?”

“I don’t know sure. It’s not Danneel.” Jensen knows it can’t be Danneel, even if all the evidence points in that direction.

“She’s closer to the press than anyone, Jensen,” Jared says softly.

“Yeah, and I know her better than you do,” Jensen says bitingly. “She wouldn’t do that.”

“It happened before.”

“When she was in college! She was barely in her twenties when that happened. I trust her. She’s not the leak.”

The President looks between them before nodding to himself. “We’re not gonna do anything drastic yet. We’ll give it a couple more days before we make any decisions. But this needs to stop now.”

Jensen swallows and nods along with Jared. He shifts away, trying not to look at Jared and calmly sips his coffee instead. There’s a knock on the door and the rest of the Senior Staff files into the room. Misha sits across from him and Jared, and Jensen really hopes Jared’s having trouble meeting Misha’s eyes.

&&&

It’s hard not to say anything to Danneel and pretend that everything’s okay when he sees her later that day. Jared’s giving him space, because he knows that Jensen’s too pissed to stay civil right now. He doesn’t know how Jared could accuse anyone on the Senior Staff for something like this, let alone Danneel.

“What’s up?” Danneel sits up, crossing her legs underneath her. “You’ve got that look on your face.”

Jensen shrugs. “Just tired I guess.”

Danneel holds out her bag of chips. Jensen grabs a couple and stuffs them into his mouth. She watches him for a minute before sitting back against the arm of the couch.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

Danneel frowns and throws the empty bag of chips onto the coffee table. “Did you and Jared wanna go get dinner with Misha and me tomorrow?”

Jensen nods and licks the salt off his fingers, not meeting Danneel’s eyes. “Yeah, we can go tomorrow.”

Part Two